


Inference and Deduction

by Dragonbat



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-03-09
Updated: 2008-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-21 23:57:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonbat/pseuds/Dragonbat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A person can uncover a lot, just by using his eyes and ears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inference and Deduction

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I'm playing with DC's toys, here. I'll give them back when I'm done!
> 
> Thanks to Kathy for the beta!

**Inference and Deduction**

He hears the car drive into the cave. From the smoothness of its approach he can tell that its transmission remains in optimal condition, that its cylinders are firing appropriately, and that Batman has managed to complete his nightly patrol with all four tires intact.

The door opens. Alfred notes the caked mud on the dark blue boot. It hasn't rained in nearly four days, so either Batman has spent some time in the sewers, or—and this is far more likely, given that the man standing before him does _not_ currently reek of a cesspool—he was chasing his quarry on foot through Robinson Park. He recalls hearing a report via police band radio of a disturbance in that area some hours earlier. At the time, he had wondered whether Batman would choose to become involved. He wonders no longer.

The costume is muddy, but at first glance, there is no apparent damage. And from Master Bruce's relaxed posture and the relative ease with which he traverses the eight or nine yards from the car bay to the cave proper, his person is similarly sound. Alfred offers a silent prayer of thanks that his medical skills will not be required tonight. (His tailoring skills are another matter. There are presently no fewer than eleven articles of night attire awaiting his skills. Thus far, he simply hasn't had time to get to them.)

Master Bruce pushes back the cowl. Despite the near-perfect poker face, Alfred can detect the small but significant signs of elation—from the spring in the younger man's step to the glint in his eye, which barely surfaces before it submerges again. One corner of his mouth pulls up by a fraction of a millimeter. (Imperial measurements are far too crude and imprecise for this level of accuracy.) "I trust that tonight's surveillance went well, sir?"

He nods. "I know how they're getting the Yaba onto the streets. Tomorrow night, it stops."

"Well done, sir," he responds with a reserved smile. Perhaps it's all of the years he spent discussing the works of Conan Doyle with Master Bruce when the younger man was still a child, but Alfred still enjoys seeing deductive reasoning bear out.


End file.
